The upper campus of Linwood Monroe Arts Plus school in St. Paul was placed on a brief lockdown Tuesday afternoon after a staff member overheard students talking about a weapon, according to a message to parents from principal Bryan Bass.
The lockdown began shortly before the upper campus, which houses grades 5 through 8, dismissed students for the day, St. Paul Public Schools spokesman Kevin Burns said.
Bass summoned St. Paul police and the district’s safety and security team, whose search of the building turned up no weapons, the message to parents said. After the building was declared safe, an investigation determined that the students had been discussing a Snapchat post that included a photo of a student with a toy gun.
“It is important for students to understand that almost anything that is posted online can have consequences,” Bass said in his message to parents.
The campus was locked down for about 20 minutes, Burns said, delaying dismissal by about seven minutes.